Solo Han Solo Movie Box office Thread

[BatLobster]

Oversaturation is only perceived when studios are making lesser content. For God's sake, we would be calling Marvel movies oversaturated if the two or three movies they released per year all were same-y. How is it we're nearly 20 movies in and we're not getting fatigued? Because Marvel knows how to change things up and they make great stuff for the most part. Marvel would not be getting by if they made movies like these past four SW films.

See, that's kinda where I disagree personally because the thing I have very low emotional investment in those films. They're fun turn off your brain, eat popcorn, immediately forget kinda films for me. They're adjacent superhero stories that interweve more than they are any type of meaningful unified mythology to me. I saw (and mostly enjoyed) everything up through Ant-Man in theaters, but now I just choose to see the ones that interest me at this point. I skipped Doctor Strange in theaters (just saw it on Netflix...happy with my decision) and plan on skipping the new Ant-Man too. I like going to the movies to have a good time, and it was around 2016 with Civil War and Ant-Man that I realized I just felt like I was going through the motions and seeing them because they were required viewing more than out of any real meaningful emotional investment in the story, which was kind of a bummer realization for me. Luckily Marvel has enough franchises going now that I can pick and choose the ones I see.

I never was keen on Star Wars trying to chase the MCU business model, because not only is it clearly not as easy as Hollywood thought-- truthfully I just like it better when Star Wars is more of a big event and I expect a LOT more from Star Wars than I do of Marvel. I simply respect Star Wars' impact on cinema in a way that I do not for Marvel. To me the beauty of the Star Wars films was they were influenced by serialized genre storytelling but they were still distinct entries into the canon of cinema. And while they had plenty of humor and goofy aspects, they just spoke to a purity of imagination in a way that was and still is special. They had an innocence about them, which is why people so closely associate it with their childhoods and become so passionately opinionated about everything about it. Marvel is comic books/TV for the big screen with a heavy dose of self-aware humor- which CLEARLY is working gangbusters for them. But to me, that's not what Star Wars is- although I do appreciate them embracing the multimedia facet of the canon.

Anyway, to me oversaturation IS a thing regardless of quality or success. You can absolutely have too much of a good thing, whether that is superheroes, Star Wars or pizza. There is always something to be said for having the time to rebuild your appetite for something.

 

[Reaver027]

Are some really trying to tell me that a STAR WARS movie needs an eleborate ad campaign to get people excited to watch it? If we are at that point the franchise has declined a lot already.
There is also no Star Wars fatigue. From 2008 on we had constant new material in the form of Clone wars. A show that salvaged Anakin Skywalker for a lot of fans. In addition to that we had tons of new books, video/board games and (if you were lucky to be living in a german speaking country) even a audio drama of the Thrawn trilogy. And now suddenly ater TLJ there is this massive Star Wars fatigue? Give me a break.

There are a lot of fans that just want to see KK gone and are not willing to give her a win with Solo. To those fans she is the root of the problem and they want to see her fired today rather than tomorrow. And they are willing to suspend their urge to watch a new Star Wars movie to accomplish that goal.

The best move Disney could make right now is replace KK with Filoni. The fans love him and he expressed a deep knowlage of the Star Wars mythos. He knows how to create interesting characters and how to create interesting storylines. He could very well be the Kevin Feige of Star Wars.

It will be interesting to see what will happen to 9. There is a lot of time between now and december next year. Heads could cool off or get even hotter. I put all my hope and trust into JJ. He did deliver with TFA and i hope he can do it again.

 

[BatLobster]

For the record, I just want to say that I am not one of those people who want KK gone. I've been mostly happy with the new movies, with TLJ actually being my favorite.

My concern with fatigue is more directed at Disney, because Disney are the ones who mandated the release schedule of a film every year and IMO it was way too ambitious out the gate and for me, Solo is evidence that the ship was moving a bit too fast without having everything in order. If it weren't for Disney's mandate I have serious questions about whether they would've pushed a Solo film out this soon. If you ask me, if would've made a hell of a lot more sense to just focus on the new trilogy first and worry about spinoffs later.

That said, I think KK is a pro, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt and I definitely have hope for IX. I just thought Solo was painfully average and exactly what I feared it would be- but I am in no way part of the "Make Star Wars Great Again" crowd.

 

[batman1]

So what is the projected BO total? The weekend is almost over. But now what about the entire cinematic run?

 

[Iceman]

That is the kind of thinking I don't understand.

Doesn't a fan want to give the thing they love another chance if they didn't like something in the past? And common sense says that the very concept of this film means it is like "old Star Wars" and not the "new kind" of TLJ.

Also, the Star Wars fans are not what makes these films successful. as vast as the fan community, it is the "regular" cinema goers that drive movies up to the billion dollar mark, just as it not the comic readers that make the MCU a success.

So why aren't the non-fans showing up to a movie about the character who is popular beyond the franchise itself?

I think it more a case of some feeling betrayed and wanting to irrationally punish the next film (even if it's something they may have liked). They can't unsee the film they've already seen or get their money back so they can only express their displeasure at what comes next.

And I'd count a large part of the regular cinemagoing population as Star Wars fans (of the films only) for the purpose of this behaviour. It's the only franchise like that where I think even guys on the street have personal opinions and get offended by how Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader are treated, even while they wouldn't necessarily care so much about characters beyond that in the same films.

 

[Zant]

So what is the projected BO total? The weekend is almost over. But now what about the entire cinematic run?

About 450 Worldwide if Japan really performs.

 

[Romannen]

She has still made much better SW than Lucas did in the 2000s. And even if you disagree, I'll put it this way, fans talk far more violently about her than they do about Zack Snyder or Kevin Tsujihara, and those two oversaw the ruination of the DC brand.

At the very least, comic book characters can easily be rebooted, and there are always different versions of, say, Batman. The original Star Wars characters are one-of-a-kind icons. So TLJ was the equivalent of crapping on Mona Lisa.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Wall Street Journal - ‘Solo,’ Newest ‘Star Wars’ Installment, Off to a Slow Start

“We’re looking at a result that’s less than we would have liked,” said Dave Hollis, Disney’s head of theatrical distribution. He added that the studio was glad to see that exit poll results were strong, indicating “Solo” could do well in the coming weeks thanks to word-of-mouth.

Mr. Hollis also said Disney is starting to look at data to figure out why “Solo” underperformed its predecessors. A key question is whether some audiences were turned off by “Solo”-specific factors or if interest in “Star Wars” overall is waning.

Mr. Hollis said it is “premature” to suggest there is “Star Wars” fatigue, pointing out that Disney’s Marvel Studios opened three successful movies, “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” between November and May.

“The Last Jedi” grossed a robust $1.33 billion world-wide, but its ticket sales fell quickly after a huge opening, fan reactions were polarized and related consumer product sales were soft, causing some concern about audience enthusiasm for “Star Wars” even before the disappointing start for “Solo.”

Disney now has time to re-evaluate its approach to “Star Wars,” as the next sequel isn’t scheduled to come out until December 2019. The pressure is on Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy to restore the franchise to its former glory.

A spokesman declined to make Ms. Kennedy available for an interview.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/solo-newest-star-wars-installment-off-to-a-slow-start-1527534820

 

[batman1]

About 450 Worldwide if Japan really performs.

It doesn't seem like it will.

 

[batman1]

At the very least, comic book characters can easily be rebooted, and there are always different versions of, say, Batman. The original Star Wars characters are one-of-a-kind icons. So TLJ was the equivalent of crapping on Mona Lisa.

What you just said. I never really thought about it but I knew this. Maybe this is why folks are so upset. It's one of a kind and can't be rebooted.

 

[Frodo]

The backlash didn't exist with TFA and RO because they played it completely safe with those films. TLJ attempted to grow the franchise by using the existing characters to catapult SW into a new direction and the results were mixed: some loved it, others despised it. People don't like change, I get it, but one of the big problems when trying to further a franchise in a medium as expensive and highly scrutinized as cinema/film is the balance of pleasing the guys bankrolling the effort (to keep the money rolling in), the creative artists who are actually creating the product itself (to keep creative voices wanting to participate in your franchise), as well as honoring the fans with stories they want and keeping them engaged and excited for what's to come. Its a tricky proposition.

I agree they need both the older fans as well as the new fans, but the Fandom will fall to pieces if they only focus on the old and not branch out of the formulaic rut they are in.

That's true , but it also depends on the type of franchise you're dealing with. SW isn't as malleable as Disney/Lucasfilm thinks it is. It isn't the MCU, or the DCEU.

They have to tell new stories with new characters , no doubt, but at the end of the day , the question becomes whether general audiences really care that much about a new SW cinematic universe without a Skywalker film in it, stromtroopers vs Rebels, and Jedi's?

Lucasfilm, have to ask themselves what the SW brand is in the eyes of the general audience . Is it a cinematic universe of different unrelated characters each in their own corner of the universe, each with their own adventures? Or is SW Luke Skywalker and the Skywalker family and friends?

In the general audiences eyes, they see it as the latter, and its hard after 40 years to convince them otherwise. . And that doesn't take into account what the Star Wars fanbase thinks it should or shouldn't be.

I think its possible for SW to become more than just the Skywalkers in people's minds, and to tell new stories new characters, but that isn't an easy task when the general audience has been conditioned to viewed the property one way and when the property has basically been made in one way.

Star Wars is old, and I actually think its closer to the Bond franchise which updates things over the years but doesn't really change things that radically, as opposed to something closer to the MCU, which they aspire to be.

They're trying to make it something it was never intended to be to begin with, which makes it much more difficult to really make films which don't fit into audiences and fans notions of what SW should be.

If they want to keep making films that's what they need to do, but I do think they'll limited by what the property is itself and how its perceived.

 

[Romannen]

Mr. Hollis said it is “premature” to suggest there is “Star Wars” fatigue...

In my mind, there are only two options:
A) Star Wars fatigue
B) A crappy product

Since Mr. Hollis is ruling out fatigue, the answer appears to be a crappy product.

 

[Flemm]

They have to tell new stories with new characters , no doubt, but at the end of the day , the question becomes whether general audiences really care that much about a new SW cinematic universe without a Skywalker film in it, stromtroopers vs Rebels, and Jedi's?

Well, we won't know until they try it.

The Last Jedi wasn't a good test case for that because it didn't do any of those things.

The film *was* different, but the main difference was that it took a very critical view of Star Wars as a concept, and of its original protagonist in particular (while still making him the center of the movie).

Some of the ideas are interesting, to varying degrees, with plenty of room for people to have different opinions. But basically the movie was different, not because it moved on to something new, but because it was very critical of the old.

Among recent blockbusters, Iron Man 3 is a similar example that comes to mind. It's quite critical of the genre, and of the superhero movies that were trendy at the time (basically Iron Man and the Nolan movies). It's not beloved by genre fans either, maybe for similar reasons.

But Iron man 3 is a less extreme example.

 

[warhorse78]

Are some really trying to tell me that a STAR WARS movie needs an eleborate ad campaign to get people excited to watch it? If we are at that point the franchise has declined a lot already.
There is also no Star Wars fatigue. From 2008 on we had constant new material in the form of Clone wars. A show that salvaged Anakin Skywalker for a lot of fans. In addition to that we had tons of new books, video/board games and (if you were lucky to be living in a german speaking country) even a audio drama of the Thrawn trilogy. And now suddenly ater TLJ there is this massive Star Wars fatigue? Give me a break.

There are a lot of fans that just want to see KK gone and are not willing to give her a win with Solo. To those fans she is the root of the problem and they want to see her fired today rather than tomorrow. And they are willing to suspend their urge to watch a new Star Wars movie to accomplish that goal.

The best move Disney could make right now is replace KK with Filoni. The fans love him and he expressed a deep knowlage of the Star Wars mythos. He knows how to create interesting characters and how to create interesting storylines. He could very well be the Kevin Feige of Star Wars.

It will be interesting to see what will happen to 9. There is a lot of time between now and december next year. Heads could cool off or get even hotter. I put all my hope and trust into JJ. He did deliver with TFA and i hope he can do it again.

I agree with this 100%. I personally didn't like TFA. I would have rathered they kept the family dynamic with Leia, Han and Luke, and have had kept Han's and Leia's twins that were in the books and make Finn a son of Lando and have them go off on an adventure. They could have then run into Kylo Ren and make him a completely new character and untied to anyone in the universe while also keeping the main basis for Rey (who I think will be revealed in episode 9 to be the granddaughter of Obi Wan) I just think they could have made a much better story without destroying the happy ending from ROTJ. Leave Luke as a wise uncle to guide his nephew and niece when needed, and Han and Leia are retired on Endor.

 

[warhorse78]

In my mind, there are only two options:
A) Star Wars fatigue
B) A crappy product

Since Mr. Hollis is ruling out fatigue, the answer appears to be a crappy product.

When you got videos like this floating around, can't blame Star Wars fans for standing up for Mark Hamill and abandoning ship.
[YT]J5EB95JdDrs[/YT]

Stuff like this is why people are hating on Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy. I don't blame them. What Johnson has done is disrespectful and humiliating to an icon.

 

[TheVileOne]

Are some really trying to tell me that a STAR WARS movie needs an eleborate ad campaign to get people excited to watch it? If we are at that point the franchise has declined a lot already.
There is also no Star Wars fatigue. From 2008 on we had constant new material in the form of Clone wars. A show that salvaged Anakin Skywalker for a lot of fans. In addition to that we had tons of new books, video/board games and (if you were lucky to be living in a german speaking country) even a audio drama of the Thrawn trilogy. And now suddenly ater TLJ there is this massive Star Wars fatigue? Give me a break.

There are a lot of fans that just want to see KK gone and are not willing to give her a win with Solo. To those fans she is the root of the problem and they want to see her fired today rather than tomorrow. And they are willing to suspend their urge to watch a new Star Wars movie to accomplish that goal.

The best move Disney could make right now is replace KK with Filoni. The fans love him and he expressed a deep knowlage of the Star Wars mythos. He knows how to create interesting characters and how to create interesting storylines. He could very well be the Kevin Feige of Star Wars.

It will be interesting to see what will happen to 9. There is a lot of time between now and december next year. Heads could cool off or get even hotter. I put all my hope and trust into JJ. He did deliver with TFA and i hope he can do it again.

Clone Wars was an animated TV show. A fraction of the people that watch the films saw that show.

 

[samsnee]

I really want them to rethink their movies now and not rely on prequels to expand the universe. Give us new stories (and not by Rian).

 

[terry78]

They have a multitude of characters and storylines from video games and novels to draw off of, yet they refuse.

 

[Mask&Cape]

When you got videos like this floating around, can't blame Star Wars fans for standing up for Mark Hamill and abandoning ship.
[YT]J5EB95JdDrs[/YT]

When people are getting worked up over these videos floating around, I can blame them - for being ridiculous.

And Hamill doesn't need people to "stand up for him". What are they doing for Hamill exactly? Please educate me?

Stuff like this is why people are hating on Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy. I don't blame them. What Johnson has done is disrespectful and humiliating to an icon.

I think Hamill is going to be fine.

I really want them to rethink their movies now and not rely on prequels to expand the universe. Give us new stories (and not by Rian).

The prequels so far have been new stories and have expanded the universe and there is going to be new films by Ryan Johnson.

You just have to accept that because it is happening.

 

[Mask&Cape]

They have a multitude of characters and storylines from video games and novels to draw off of, yet they refuse.

What novels and video games?

 

[samsnee]

The prequels so far have been new stories and have expanded the universe and there is going to be new films by Ryan Johnson.

You just have to accept that because it is happening.

I actually liked Rogue One more than TFA and TLJ but it still relied on the original trilogy to tell its story. Solo was entertaining but again didn’t really cover any new ground and relied on the original trilogy.

Give me a movie that takes place in another corner of the galaxy. Maybe Rian’s will do that. But I didn’t love his choices in TLJ. Even outside of Luke, the newer characters felt disconnected from what was established in TFA.

 

[darthcoolness3]

The box office is probably at an slow start, because the world is fatigued from Star Wars movies coming out every year.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

So whatever happened with Solo beating Black Panther opening weekend? I guess the so called vocal minority that voiced their criticism with the direction Star Wars is taking after TLJ wasn't so minor after all

 

[Mask&Cape]

I actually liked Rogue One more than TFA and TLJ but it still relied on the original trilogy to tell its story. Solo was entertaining but again didn’t really cover any new ground and relied on the original trilogy.

Well, the very concept of Rogue One was about the plot of ANH so you couldn't avoid the connectedness.

For Solo only really only in regards to the world building.

To be fair, both of those movies are still new ground for the franchise in regards to movies and Lucasfilm needs to test the waters before using new eras and characters for those films. Plus they need to wrap up the ST before they can hit that point in history.

Give me a movie that takes place in another corner of the galaxy. Maybe Rian’s will do that. But I didn’t love his choices in TLJ. Even outside of Luke, the newer characters felt disconnected from what was established in TFA.

Actually that is exactly what Johnson's trilogy I going to cover - a corner of the Star Wars galaxy that has never been utilised before.

I loved his choices in TLJ (some of the humour didn't work but not a deal breaker) and I look forward to seeing what he does with new characters and situations.

You didn't like his choices in TLJ but that doesn't mean you won't like his choices with something different that is his own creation. I'm still of the opinion that Abrams and Kasdan were wrong to clone the Empire & Tatooine and a couple of other things but that doesn't stop me from enjoying TFA - I love it.

 

[I Am The Knight]

When you got videos like this floating around, can't blame Star Wars fans for standing up for Mark Hamill and abandoning ship.
[YT]J5EB95JdDrs[/YT]

Stuff like this is why people are hating on Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy. I don't blame them. What Johnson has done is disrespectful and humiliating to an icon.

That part at the end where he's (crying?) Jesus...